


Make No Noise

by havocthecat



Series: Valedictions [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode: s02e19 Inferno, F/F, F/M, Femslash, Flirting, Het, Multi, Polyamory, Pre-Femslash, Pre-Threesome, UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-02
Updated: 2012-11-02
Packaged: 2017-11-17 14:09:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/552396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havocthecat/pseuds/havocthecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"I don't know," says Elizabeth, staring over to the other table. "She seems lonely." </i>
</p><p>  <i>John glances over.  Heightmeyer's sitting by herself in the mess. She's got a large book laying flat in front of her. From the rate she's been turning pages, she's not even reading it. It's probably something from Earth that hasn't been scanned and added to the medical database yet.</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>"Who, Heightmeyer?" John shrugs. "She's got Beckett and Teyla."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Make No Noise

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a series of episode-related fics I was working on back in 2008 - 2010. I lost momentum after third season, but with 20k words written, I've been doing my best to get it done and posted.
> 
> I wrote it starting just after an Elizabeth/John story (Whisper to Their Souls to Go) and it's gone from Elizabeth/John to an eventual Kate/Elizabeth/John.

"I don't know," says Elizabeth, staring at Heightmeyer. "She seems lonely." 

John glances over. Heightmeyer's sitting by herself in the mess, eating something that looks like mashed potatoes. John knows from experience it tastes more like turnips. She's got a large book laying flat in front of her. From the rate she's been turning pages, she's not even reading it. It's probably something from Earth that hasn't been scanned and added to the medical database yet.

"Who, Heightmeyer?" John shrugs. "She's got Beckett and Teyla." They're a trio of freakishly well-adjusted people in touch with their emotions. Sometimes he wonders how they do it.

"John." He glances over, and Elizabeth is giving him a quelling look.

"I said that last part out loud, didn't I?" he asks.

Elizabeth nods, and John grins, hoping that'll get him out of trouble. It doesn't.

"Don't say it again," she says. It's too firm. Something's bothering her, but John can't figure out what. "I wonder what kind of a support system she has?"

"She's a shrink," says John. "I think she's her own support system. Plus Beckett and Teyla. Remember?"

"What do you have against her?" asks Elizabeth. She's giving him a wary eye, and John does his best to look harmless.

"How is it she didn't freak about being alone with Michael?" John frowns. "Ever. Not for one therapy session. Not even after he found out he was a Wraith." He's not going to tell Elizabeth that he's always uncomfortable with women he can't charm, and Kate's been oblivious to his best attempts at flirtation.

The fact is, he's pretty sure she knows he's been trying to charm her. But he's not going to go there.

Elizabeth studies Heightmeyer for a moment, until she looks up and notices them staring. She gives them a pleasant, measured smile and goes back to her book. "I think Kate's just very good at remaining calm."

"I can't ever figure out what she's thinking," grumbles John. "It bugs me."

"You used to have a hard time reading me," Elizabeth points out.

"That's different." That's all John says, because Ronon, Rodney, and Teyla are sliding into seats at their table. The conversation turns to the Star Trek DVDs that Rodney's just gotten from the Daedalus. When he looks over again, Heightmeyer's walking out the door. Her face is turned away, but he catches a quick glimpse of her face. She looks distant, instead of composed. Maybe sad.

That's just wrong. Heightmeyer's not supposed to show any vulnerability. She's kind of like Elizabeth that way, and when he looks over at Elizabeth, she's giving him that 'I told you so' look with an arch of her eyebrow.

***

"Hello, Kate." Elizabeth walks into Kate's office after excusing herself from eating lunch with John and his team. 

"Dr. Weir." Kate turns away from her laptop and gives Elizabeth a reserved smile. "What can I do for you today?"

"I thought I'd see how you're doing." Elizabeth shifts her weight just slightly and clasps her hands in front of her abdomen. "The extra work with helping the Taranians adjust to their new planet must have been stressful."

"Everyone's feeling a certain level of strain," says Kate. The smile fades into a pleasant, interested look. "I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about. I've had a few additional appointments since the Taranians left, but everyone's handling the disruptions to our routine."

"That--" Elizabeth pauses briefly, not certain how to continue. "I'm not here for an update on the expedition's psychological state. I'm here to see how _you're_ doing, Kate."

"Oh." Kate's brow furrows, and Elizabeth thinks Kate's not sure how to respond. "Everything's fine."

"We're looking at rotating some personnel back to Earth for leave." Elizabeth curses silently at the look of alarm in Kate's eyes. After an awkward pause, she adds, "If you're interested. I don't think you've left Atlantis once since you got here."

"Only once," says Kate. She laces her fingers together and sets her hands in her lap. "The storm." There's only one storm that anyone from the first year of the expedition refers to. Elizabeth glances out the window and sees nothing but blue skies. The ocean waves are gentle and Elizabeth fights the urge to let them lull her.

"Of course," murmurs Elizabeth. She doesn't think she's ever seen Kate stay seated behind her desk before. "It's just that you don't get breaks very often."

"Look who's talking," says Kate. Her mouth twists into a grin. "The one time you've been back to Earth since this expedition started, I'm certain you were only out of debriefings long enough to eat and sleep."

"Don't forget, they had to let me shower," says Elizabeth. Something about that statement strikes Elizabeth, but she can't quite place how.

"We couldn't forget that, now, could we?" asks Kate. Elizabeth can't be certain, but she thinks she sees Kate's eyes widen, just for an instant. 

"I should--" Elizabeth smiles awkwardly as her hand flutters toward Kate's door. "The paperwork never really ends, does it?" She's got a sinking feeling in her stomach as she looks at Kate.

"I'm not sure I'd like what a lack of paperwork would mean," says Kate. She's got a soft little smile, and it's then that Elizabeth realizes she's noticing the slope of Kate's breasts. _Oh._ Now she knows why she's always felt so uncomfortable about Kate.

Elizabeth backs up and opens the door, then pauses. "You would come to me, I hope," she says, controlling a wince at her choice of phrasing. "If you needed someone to talk to. It's got to be difficult, sometimes, being the only therapist on Atlantis."

"Sometimes it is," agrees Kate, "but I've always been able to handle it. I'll let you know if there's a problem, Dr. Weir."

"It's all right to call me Elizabeth," she says. "After working together for this long, I'd like to think we're friends."

Kate smiles and nods without saying anything, and Elizabeth nods in return before she leaves. She's too unsettled to continue the conversation, or push where she knows Kate's avoiding answers, so she goes back to her office and stares at her monitor until John comes to tell her she's working too hard again.

***

"What's up?" John lays on his side next to Elizabeth. They're naked, and the warmth of her skin seeps into him. He's got his hand splayed on her stomach as she stares up at the ceiling and frowns. "You're frowny tonight."

"It's nothing." She glances over at John and musters a smile. It really _is_ nothing. She can't let it be something. Whatever this thing with John started as, it's become a relationship.

"It's not nothing if you can find the ceiling that fascinating," says John. He gives her a wheedling look. "Come on, Elizabeth. You can tell me anything."

She can. She knows that. "It's not something I'd normally talk about with anyone," she says.

"Not even after really good sex?" asks John, and then he's trailing kisses along her throat. "That's supposed to lower your inhibitions."

"I went to see Kate this afternoon," says Elizabeth. She wants to tell him more, but when she opens her mouth, the words won't come out. He presses his mouth to hers, and Elizabeth moves up to meet him. She wraps her arms around his neck and licks her way into his mouth.

"Everything okay?" asks John. He looks concerned. "You don't usually go to meetings in Heightmeyer's office."

"Everything's fine, John," she says, rolling over onto her stomach. The almost sultry look she gives him works as a distraction. John can't help but skim his hand down her back and over her ass. "I just thought I'd see how she's been handling the stress."

"Didn't we already have this talk?" asks John. "She's got friends. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she and Teyla didn't have a thing going."

Teyla and Evan Lorne are a couple, as a matter of fact, and not willing to spread that news. All Elizabeth does is shake her head. "They're just friends."

"Damn." John looks regretful, and Elizabeth frowns at him. "I'm losing out on fantasy material," he says, "and I had some money on Kate and Teyla hopping in the sack."

"John!" Elizabeth's scandalized. That's all. When she leans over and kisses him, she tells herself the only reason she gasps is because his hand is covering her breast.

She turns over later and falls asleep in John's arms. When Elizabeth opens her eyes in the middle of the night, her body thrumming from the orgasm that woke her, she can barely remember her dreams. There's the vague impression of long blonde hair brushing against her breasts. She thinks she remembers soft pink lips and a quiet, feminine voice - Kate's voice, she realizes - whispering her name.

Elizabeth tightens her grip on John's waist and lets herself drift back into slumber. When the sun shines on them in the morning and wakes them up, she covers his mouth with hers.

The remnants of her dream linger throughout the day.

\--end--


End file.
